Kuljašević and Kožul win in Rijeka
The 5th Open "Mediterranean 2017" had 13 GMs among 97 participants. Most players were from Croatia and other Balkan countries, plus a few from elsewhere including IM Kenny Solomon travelling all the way from South Africa. Second and third seeds Kožul and Kuljašević from Croatia won the event, while Bosnian rating favorite Borki Predojević conceded too many draws. Kuljašević was leading for most of the event but lost in round 7 against Kožul in just 14 moves. In the next round, Kožul had to save a draw from a difficult position against fellow GM Martinović which allowed Kuljašević to regain shared first place. Both were happy with short draws in the final round, and no one from the chasing group could catch up.
The event was further characterized by many upsets in the early rounds, and frequent short draws between GMs – possibly because they know each other rather well?
Small selection of games
Round 9 (final) standings (top 30)
| # | Title | Name | Fed | Rtg | Pts | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TPR |
| 1 | GM | Kuljašević Davorin | CRO | 2560 | 7.0 | 43.0 | 54.5 | 6 | 2634 |
| 2 | GM | Kožul Zdenko | CRO | 2577 | 7.0 | 42.5 | 54.0 | 5 | 2641 |
| 3 | GM | Martinović Saša | CRO | 2504 | 6.5 | 41.5 | 53.0 | 5 | 2508 |
| 4 | GM | Predojević Borki | BIH | 2642 | 6.5 | 41.5 | 53.0 | 4 | 2539 |
| 5 | GM | Šarić Ante | CRO | 2497 | 6.5 | 41.5 | 52.5 | 5 | 2525 |
| 6 | IM | Dorić Darko | CRO | 2504 | 6.5 | 41.5 | 52.0 | 4 | 2543 |
| 7 | GM | Nevednichy Vladislav | ROU | 2543 | 6.5 | 40.0 | 51.5 | 4 | 2535 |
| 8 | GM | Tratar Marko | SLO | 2495 | 6.5 | 38.5 | 49.0 | 5 | 2475 |
| 9 | GM | Jovanić Ognjen | CRO | 2476 | 6.5 | 38.0 | 49.5 | 5 | 2449 |
| 10 | GM | Haznedaroglu Kivanc | TUR | 2426 | 6.0 | 41.5 | 53.5 | 4 | 2526 |
| 11 | GM | Cvitan Ognjen | CRO | 2523 | 6.0 | 41.0 | 52.0 | 4 | 2505 |
| 12 | IM | Žufić Miroslav | CRO | 2409 | 6.0 | 39.5 | 50.0 | 5 | 2466 |
| 13 | GM | Lazić Miroljub | SRB | 2459 | 6.0 | 39.0 | 49.0 | 4 | 2433 |
| 14 | GM | Baron Tal | ISR | 2504 | 6.0 | 38.0 | 48.0 | 5 | 2403 |
| 15 | IM | Šale Srđan | CRO | 2386 | 6.0 | 37.0 | 46.0 | 5 | 2410 |
| 16 | Šutković Damir | BIH | 2339 | 6.0 | 35.5 | 46.5 | 6 | 2310 | |
| 17 | IM | Kanmazalp Ogulcan | TUR | 2401 | 6.0 | 35.5 | 45.0 | 5 | 2308 |
| 18 | IM | Battaglini Gabriel | FRA | 2423 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 43.5 | 6 | 2288 |
| 19 | IM | Lončar Robert | CRO | 2415 | 6.0 | 33.0 | 43.5 | 4 | 2279 |
| 20 | IM | Solomon Kenny | RSA | 2426 | 5.5 | 39.0 | 48.0 | 4 | 2396 |
| 21 | IM | Solomunovic Igor | GER | 2420 | 5.5 | 38.5 | 49.5 | 5 | 2386 |
| 22 | Krklješ Slaven | CRO | 2171 | 5.5 | 38.5 | 48.5 | 4 | 2327 | |
| 23 | GM | Berescu Alin-Mile | ROU | 2501 | 5.5 | 38.0 | 49.0 | 4 | 2338 |
| 24 | IM | Brumen Dinko | CRO | 2345 | 5.5 | 37.0 | 48.0 | 5 | 2311 |
| 25 | IM | Dimitrov Pavel | BUL | 2353 | 5.5 | 37.0 | 46.5 | 4 | 2306 |
| 26 | IM | Dumpor Atif | BIH | 2373 | 5.5 | 35.0 | 44.0 | 4 | 2198 |
| 27 | Angelov Zvetomir | BUL | 2122 | 5.5 | 34.5 | 43.0 | 5 | 2217 | |
| 28 | FM | Rameša Davor | CRO | 2302 | 5.5 | 34.0 | 43.5 | 5 | 2218 |
| 29 | Blažeka Matej | CRO | 2193 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 43.5 | 4 | 2117 | |
| 30 | WGM | Ionica Iulia-Ionela | ROU | 2201 | 5.5 | 33.5 | 42.5 | 4 | 2214 |
